PAYDAY 2 Secret ARG Wiki
Welcome to the PAYDAY 2 Secret ARG Wiki This wiki is dedicated to uncovering The Secret ARG in the game PayDay 2 by Overkill software. "What is the secret? What are we looking for? Is this the Da Vinci Code?" Read through this to get up to speed. =The Guide of Bain= The Career Criminal Edition (pre-oder only) featured a guide (or manual) which contains clues to uncovering, in Bain's words, 'The Secret'. Here you can find links to the cryptic images that Bain has kept for us, links to the discussion threads, as well as other notable things found in the guide. Link to an album including all the images listed below. Each of the nine images contain a hidden 'signature' which reads either 'CGO' or 'BDN'. These are shown in parenthesis in each heading. One can be reasonably sure that CGO is Cagliostro. Many people speculate that BDN is Baldwin. Lastly, one cannot analyse these images without noting the similarity to The Ninth Gate engravings and to Tarot card readings. These topics are mentioned in the Miscellaneous section of this wiki. The First Image (CGO) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion Codex (n.) "manuscript volume (especially an ancient one)", from Latin (source). Raptus is Latin for "seized", from rapere "to seize". In Roman law the term covered many crimes of property, and women were considered property (source). MDCCXCII is the year 1792 (source). Of the many interesting things that happened in 1792, one link to the game is that the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion, known as the White House after 1818, was laid in Washington, DC. Also, some of the former French Crown Jewels were stolen from a warehouse where the revolutionary government had stored them. See the Miscellaneous section for more. The painting found in the meth lab on the Rats job is very similar. The Second Image (CGO) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion A trio of mushrooms are in the corner, perhaps similar to the trios of mushrooms you see outside the house on day two of the Big Oil job. The Third Image (CGO) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion Burning treasure could be a reference to burning guns in Day 1 Firestarter The Fourth Image (BDN) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion In the inner circle are the alchemical symbols for, in clockwise order: Mercury, Sulfur, Water or Multiplication, and Salt or Nitre (saltpeter, potassium nitrate) (source). Combining Mercury, Sulfur and Nitre creates an explosive (source). Mercury, Sulfur and Salt are also the base elements required in the transmutation of lead into gold. The wheel in the center is the "Wheel of Fortune" commonly found in Tarot card decks (source). The letters T-A-R-O are aligned against four of the spokes, which can also be interpreted as R-O-T-A, the Latin word meaning “wheel”. Alternating with the letters T-A-R-O are the Hebrew letters י-ה-ו-ה, usually transliterated as YHWH (Yahweh), the name of the god of Israel. The object seen in the middle of the picture is a "Pump Drill" or "Bow Drill" (source). The Fifth Image (BDN) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion The Lady in this picture also exists in the safehouse. The Sixth Image (BDN) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion On the wall there is a poster with alchemical symbols (source and source). These have been labeled here, and represent the following: *A = Salt/Base Matter *B = Mercury (planet or metal) *C = Platinum and/or Gold *D = Saturn or Lead (source) *E = Mercury (again) *F = Libra or Sublimation *G = Copper (maybe Venus) or ammonium salts (source) *H = Squared Circle/Philosopher Stone Between B and C is the "approximation" symbol meaning Aquarius and/or Multiplication. C could be "unctuous oil" instead. The person in the picture is wearing a necklace with the symbol for fire, and has what seems like a flame above his head. There is also what may be the outline of a man outside the window. The Seventh Image (CGO) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion MENDAX is etched into the gallows and is Latin for "deceitful, lying, deceptive, untruthful, false, mendacious, feigned, not real (source). "Mendax" was also Julian Assange's (WikiLeaks) hacker name (source). The sand in the hourglass has run out. It is not clear who’s turn it was/is. The chess board is oriented in such a way that the players are positioned on the left and right (from the point of view of the observer). The board has three pieces on it, two black and one white. Depending on which colour was on which side, the black pieces are either on tiles C2 & C3 or F6 & F7, and the white piece is on tile F5 or C4. It’s hard to make out but, normally the king piece is a cross and the queen is a crown. Thus, it looks like there are two queens and a king. White's king is gone. There is a horseshoe under the board, ‘pointing’ towards the observer. From Wikipedia: “When kept as a talisman, a horseshoe is said to bring good luck. Some believe that to hang it with the ends pointing upwards is good luck as it acts as a storage container of sorts for any good luck that happens to be floating by, whereas to hang it with the ends pointing down, is bad luck as all the good luck will fall out. Others believe that the horseshoe should be hung the other way (with the ends pointing down), as it will then release its luck to the people around it.” The Eighth Image (CGO) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion That is the Sword from the fifth image and the sword is missing in the safe house. The Ninth Image (CGO) Individual Image | Reddit Discussion There are 32 tally, or hash, marks on the right wall, and five on the left. The Last Page Individual Image | Reddit Discussion The letter is dated August 13 2013, the date PayDay 2 was released. "…the search for Baldwin continues." Bain states he's interested in Cagliostro "because he was onto the Secret." He mentions the First World Bank, Counterfeit and Undercover jobs from PayDay 1. He says he's been "going through old material, like this book by Cagliostro and others…". Cagliostro's book is "The Most Holy Trinosophia" (source). The 'Covered Up' Image Individual Image | Reddit Discussion The etching which is partially exposed on page 19 is titled “The Fall of Giants” by Salvatore Rosa. Other Notable Things Page 5: * Bain has encircled “the king’s justice” and annotated “the more things change…” * “...doing robberies that span over as much as seven days” Page 6: * “This time around, we’re in Washington D.C. Don’t you worry, I got my reasons.” Page 7: * “As always, the hunt for Baldwin continues…” =The Heists= On several of the jobs in PayDay 2, people have found clues, or what seem like clues, to The Secret. The jobs are listed here individually, with the findings presented under each heading. Safe House The cardboard boxes found about the Safe House have QR codes which, when scanned, all returned "I LOVE SECRETS" (the ones that worked anyways). Some of the boxes reference maps from PayDay 1, like "Green Bridge". On at least one of the boxes is written "Baldwin". There is graffiti which says "Answer the phone". This is possibly a reference to the PayDay 1 ARG where the rumour spread that you had to answer the phone, but it had nothing to do with the actual solution. The 'Lady Justice' statue has the name Doris scratched into it. Also, it has a note attached saying "My bad! /Dallas". The server in the basement has some strange blinking lights. All other servers in the game do not contain these lights. Four Stores There's a hit-list behind the counter in the grocery store. Jewelry Store The fleur-de-lis (which is seen on the cover of Bain's guide) and the roman numeral II appear together on the wallpaper (source). Hotline Miami Job Nightclub Bank Heist In the Bank heist on the Cooling Unit on Top of the Vantage Point is Graffiti saying Answer the Phone. And in the Bank Heist Job the Phone in the Office Rings but you can't interact with it like in Go Bank. Maybe you have to do something before that. Shooting at white cars main glass makes appear symmetrical rifts that have strange symbols in it and seems to be an armor Watchdogs Ukrainian Job The fleur-de-lis (which is seen on the cover of Bain's guide) and the roman numeral II appear together on the wallpaper (source). Firestarter There's an UAV-Camera which can be accessed by LUA scripts on the first day. It shows a plane which leaves immediately after you have crossed a certain line, even when stealthed. Rats The painting leaning against the wall in the meth lab is part of a painting called “De opstanding van Christus” (source) which translates to “The Resurrection of Christ”. The image is similar to the first image in Bain’s guide (“Codex Raptus”). Here is a carpet seen in one of the apartment buildings on day two. Similar carpet patterns held the clues to unlocking the PayDay 1 ARG. Framing Frame Big Oil Here is the carpet in a bedroom and the carpet in the theater found in the house on day two. Similar carpet patterns held the clues to unlocking the PayDay 1 ARG. You can find trios of mushrooms outside the house on day two, perhaps similar to the trio of mushrooms in the second image of Bain's Guide. =Miscellaneous= Here are things that have been found or discussed which do not fit under the headings above. The Ninth Gate The images presented in Bain's Guide are similar to the engravings found in Roman Polanski's movie “The Ninth Gate” (1999). You can look at the engravings here. In the Ninth Gate, six of the engravings are signed AT (referring to the Nine Gates author Aristidem Torchia) and three are signed LCF (Lucifer). In our images we also have two authors, CGO and BDN, who have signed six and three images respectively. Thus, it appears that CGO is our AT, and BDN is our LCF. The interpretation of the engravings' meaning made by Balkan in the film is found here, from this blog. Two further interpretations of the engravings in the film are found here and here. Continuing on the Ninth Gate theme, redditors were asked to compare their copy of Bain’s Guide with the images posted here. So far, no differences have been found. Finally, it is important to note that in the film the engravings needed to be reordered from their original sequence (as presented in the book) in order to 'work'. Thus, the order of our images may also be relevant. Furthermore, sequence is also of importance in tarot card readings. Tarot Cards There is also some similarity in the images in Bain's Guide to tarot cards. There does exist a Cagliostro Tarot Deck, but the interpretations of the cards in The Major Arcana are perhaps more helpful. Cagliostro Alessandro di Cagliostro was the alias of Giuseppe Balsamo (source). He may or may not have written "The Most Holy Trinosophia" (source), an alchemistic manuscript said to refer to an allegorical initiation, detailing many kabbalistic, alchemical and masonic mysteries. You can see the book, almost in its entirety, here. The French Crown Jewels and the Hope Diamond In 1792 (mentioned in the first image in Bain's Guide), six men stole some of the former French Crown Jewels from a warehouse where the revolutionary government had stored them (source). Most, though not all, of the Crown Jewels were recovered eventually. Neither the Sancy Diamond nor the French Blue Diamond were found in the years after, however. The Royal French Blue is believed to have been recut, and it is now known as the Hope Diamond. Since 1958, it has been in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where it is the single most-viewed object in the Smithsonian's collection (source). The Hope Diamond has a long recorded history with few gaps in which it changed hands numerous times on its way from India to France to Britain and to the United States. It has been described as the "most famous diamond in the world" (source). Although Cagliostro was imprisoned at the time (source), in the 1780's he had a run-in with the French Monarchy and their jewels during the Affair of the Diamond Necklace. He was prosecuted and held in the Bastille for nine months but finally acquitted, when no evidence could be found connecting him to the affair (source). Phones There is graffiti to "Answer the phone". This is possibly a reference to the PayDay 1 ARG where the rumour spread that you had to answer the phone, but it had nothing to do with the actual solution. Some phones, like in the one in the safe house, display "idKFa12321". IDKFA was a cheat code in the game "Doom". In Doom this code gave unlimited ammo and all keys. Heist/Lobby Backgrounds In the background of some lobbies you can see "BALDWIN 16635234CENSORED23 18845" under the bank note. In the backgrounds for Vlad's jobs, you can see the coat of arms of Ukraine and the coat of arms of the Russian Federation. Images Released by Overkill In this image of a bank heist, the robbers are facing in the same directions as in Overdrill in PayDay 1. Category:Browse Category:The Heists